SUMMARY REPORT FROM THE FRENCH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES
October 2017
“O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Your name in Europe!”
We truly worship the Lord for the great feast in October in His recovery in Europe. We are so thankful for what He has done, what He has spoken, the blessings He has poured on His Body, His sweet presence, and the reappearing of the oneness of His Body in Europe. Overall, during this month, the church in Paris was blessed by the Body of Christ. The Lord did enlarge our capacity in the blending of the Body.
Psalm 126:1-3 says “When Jehovah turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream. At that time our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with a ringing shout. At that time they said among the nations, Jehovah has done great things for them. Jehovah has done great things for us, we are joyful.” We believe this describes the ITERO in Leipzig, Germany, from October 5 to 7. Because of the Lord’s move in Germany during the past two years and the petition and concern of the churches around the globe, the number of saints that attended the training was beyond what we expected. Nearly 1900 brothers came, more than double the number that we estimated. How sweet it was! The general subject of the training was “The Recovery of the Church”. We have seen that although the church became degraded, the Lord’s recovery never fails; it keeps going forward. Throughout the ages, the Lord’s recovery is gradually progressing. In the sixteenth century, the Lord recovered the truth of justification by faith and opened the Bible to the public through Martin Luther. In the eighteenth century, the Body life was recovered by the Moravian Brothers. In the nineteenth century, the Lord recovered most of the basic truths and the reality of brotherly love through the Brethren. In the twentieth century, the ground, testimony, administration, fellowship, and service of the church were recovered in the Far East.
In these days the Lord wants to recover the church life, recover the testimony of oneness. This recovery must even come to the stage of consummation—that is the building up of the Body of Christ, the manifestation of the new man on the earth, and the full preparation of the bride. How thankful we are that the one accord that the enemy destroyed in Europe thirty years ago has been recovered today! The propagation in Europe now is not only for the increase of the number of saints and the growth in life; it is for the recovery of the testimony of the oneness of the Body. During the training, with rich and strong words, the saints shared actively and earnestly in harmony. We can declare that the oneness of the Body of Christ and the one accord are back in Europe!
From October 8 to 13, there were more than 20 groups of saints who took different routes to cover Europe in their visitation. About 40 saints visited the churches in France. They went through Strasbourg, Dieppe, and then came to Paris. During this trip, the saints were deeply moved when they were introduced to the history of the Lord’s recovery in the Francophone world. They personally saw that there are saints who are not only regenerated in life but who are also very open to the truth and love the Lord and the saints eagerly. Especially in the church of
Dieppe, the visiting saints saw their joy and heard their testimonies concerning how they left the denominations, how they received the ministry publications and treasure them, how they opened themselves to the speaking of this ministry, and eventually how they fully entered into the Lord’s recovery, were blended into the Body of Christ and stood as the testimony of oneness. We are deeply encouraged and have strong faith for the Lord’s move in the Francophone world.
During the trip, we spent some time distributing Bibles among the crowds in each locality. This was the high point of the blending trips. We cooperated with the local saints, forming several teams to distribute Bibles near every campus and in every city. We really saw that the Lord had prepared many sons of peace in France. They are open to the truth and the Bible. The Lord gave His recovered church an open door that cannot be shut by others. Meanwhile, the people in the world were convicted by the coordination of the local saints and those from overseas who preached the gospel in one accord. The local saints were also encouraged by the visiting saints, seeing them burning in spirit and preaching the gospel desperately. Their spirits motivated the local saints. It has been proven once again that Europe needs the divine truth, and the European young people need to see the divine reality so that they can take part in Christ and the church and experience life and building. We are sure that “He is able to do superabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which operates in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
From October 14 to 15, there were regional conferences in nine localities in Europe. We continued the speaking and burden from the ITERO in Leipzig. This conference was originally planned to be held in Paris only. However, because the number of saints wanting to attend was far beyond our estimation, and because we could not find a suitable place, we had our conference in two localities, Paris and Brussels. The total number of saints who attended these two conferences was around 500.
The saints were deeply impressed concerning the recovery of the church, especially the present recovery, which is the ultimate recovery of the Lord. We see that the Lord not only wants to bring in the recovery of the church but also the recovery of the church life. The saints should not only meet together on one ground but should also recover the church life to be the corporate expression of Christ in the saints. We are also burdened with the preparation of the bride, which the Lord had entrusted us with today.
Thank the Lord! The sharing in each meeting was very enthusiastic. The saints released what they touched in different languages. The Lord not only blessed the conferences in Paris and Brussels but also blessed the whole of Europe. We heard that there were nearly 5,000 saints that attended the conferences in nine localities. We are so thankful for His victorious testimony.
In the Paris conference, we were encouraged to see that many French-speaking saints participated in the service coordination. Furthermore, because there were about 40 brothers from the Francophone world who joined this ITERO, the blended speaking in the regional French-speaking conference was greatly strengthened. At the same time, many French seeking ones were also added to the conference. God will bring more and more French people into Him and into His recovery. Though there was some distraction because of the fire alarm during the conference, we could still see the victory of the Lord. We deeply feel that this is a spiritual
warfare. The Lord will build His church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. The
Lord’s presence and His strong words overcame all the disturbance. Christ is Victor!
The church in Paris is still young in the Lord’s recovery, and serving in this big feast was really beyond their measure. However, the saints really exercised their spirits and stood in one accord to function, growing up more and more into Christ, the Head. This comforts us, and we believe that the Lord is building up the priesthood in Paris. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
The following are testimonies from some of the French-speaking saints who participated in the conference:
- I have experienced some marvellous moments during this regional
God’s presence was strong, all the messages were living, all the brothers were driven with an overflowing ointment and I have been reminded of many things which I already knew.
But one point especially touched me and even now I am still enjoying this portion: God is absolutely and eternally perfect, but without us, His chosen people, His bride, He is incomplete. We are His counterpart and we need to have a unique and reciprocal love towards Him. We are one with Him. This portion has changed something within me and I love the Lord more. Amen.
- Firstly, the following messages have been very enlightening to me: 1) God’s original plan, 2) why there is the need for the recovery, 3) escaping from the religious system, 4) it is not good for man to be Through the speaking of those who gave the messages, I was able to sense that they were filled with Christ. Secondly, outside of the conference, it is the Spirit of oneness and the fellowship amongst the [saints] that fascinated me. I do not speak English, yet it is Christ as our common ground which allowed me to communicate and to understand my English-speaking brothers and sisters.
- I give glory to the Lord for this time spent with the brothers and sisters during the conference in I bless the name of the Lord that this has been so beneficial and rewarding. I was really touched to know that grace is God in Christ as the Spirit for our experience, for us to receive and for us to enjoy and gain. The grace that we have is Christ. Glory be to God. I was also touched to learn that we are the counterpart of Christ. Amen.
- During this conference, I enjoyed discovering how God courted His chosen people and how He eventually married In order to gain His counterpart and become a universal couple, He prepared a bride for Himself: the church produced by Christ. It is a divinely romantic story which is marvellous. Amen.
- What touched me the most was the testimony of [a French-speaking brother]. I also enjoyed the speaking of [two brothers] from Dieppe, and [another brother]. I enjoyed hearing about the gifts, it was explained in a simple and humorous
- I was strengthened by knowing how important is for brothers to dwell together in I also enjoyed two types in Psalm 133: the mountains of Zion and the oil poured upon the head of Aaron, which respectively typifies the local churches and Christ as the Spirit poured upon HisBody, the church. I was also deeply touched by a point in one of the messages, which says, “If we are transformed in the church life and put everything on the cross and take Christ as our life, it will be easy for us to be joined, knit, and built up with one and another.”
- One point that enlightened me very much was how God uses us, as members of the Body of Christ, to recover His To be a living, genuine member of the Body, we need to spend much time with God. In the Body of Christ there is no hierarchy; we are all joined together and fellowship in oneness. One thing we do not forget! Christ is the Head of the Body forever and ever! He is our King! Thanks to our Lord! Halleluiah!
- I was deeply touched by the tender care and love from two sisters in Paris during the regional I am grateful for the hospitality offered by [the saints], for the morning sharing time, for their meals, and also for offering me the book of Ezekiel. The testimonies of [the saints] were all very encouraging to me. Thank you for everything.
- I really enjoyed Psalm 133, a psalm of praise! Jehovah’s commanded blessing of life is poured on brothers who dwell together in unity. Every time we are gathered together, we are under the anointing, under the rich, unceasing flow of life. How marvelous it is to be in this unique Body. By grace, we are receiving God’s organic salvation through Christ’s resurrection and ascension. Now we are enjoying the abundant grace of God and resting in peace.
